Billy Dunbar is a member of the Chicago Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense
(BPP). He is from the south side of Chicago. He keeps up with all the political events related to the BPP
and the Rainbow Coalition, including the era of their origins. Mr. Dunbar is also a founding member of
the Illinois BPP History Project, which is currently conducting oral histories to document the Chicago
Chapter, so that the work of their members is not forgotten. Their project also wants the public to
remember the impact that BPP Chairman Fred Hampton not only had on the African American
community but on other communities of color and the poor. Mr. Dunbar is also a businessman. Today
he owns a copy center.Chicago BPP Chairman Fred Hampton and BPP member Mark Clark were
murdered in a predawn raid on December 4, 1969. Prior to his death, Mr. Hampton started a Rainbow
Coalition, which was nurtured by Bobby Lee. The original members included the Young Patriots, a group
of Hillbillies or southern whites from the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago of whom many had migrated
from Appalachia and other southern areas, and the Young Lords from Lincoln Park. The Young Lords
first met Fred Hampton at John Boelter’s and Ralph Rivera’s home and joined the Rainbow Coalition
directly through Fred Hampton. Bobby Lee who was the BPP Field Marshall then began working more
directly with José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and the Young Lords in Lincoln Park.
Publisher
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives
